Photo: Ron C. Angle
At the end of 2008, Marcos began working with new coach, Frenchman Olivier Soules – a former player on the ATP World Tour, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 143.
The partnership has already enjoyed a successful beginning, with Olivier over-seeing Marcos’ path to the Australian Open fourth round in Melbourne last week.
“Working with Marcos is really pleasant,” said Olivier. “There is a lot of dialogue between us. He is very motivated to be back at the top level and he is always in a good mood.”
After an injury ridden 2008 season for Marcos, there was much to work on during the tennis off-season in December and Olivier gave us an insight into the sort of work Marcos engaged in to get himself in the best possible shape for the 2009 campaign:
“First you have to find your best shape after the break of the season end. Here is the schedule of the six weeks before the season starts: first two weeks only physical training, then two weeks with 50% of physical work and 50% tennis, finally two weeks 20% physical and 80% tennis.”
The hard work certainly paid off as Marcos appeared in great shape in Australia and recorded great results on his way to the last 16 in Melbourne.
The 2009 season is shaping up to be a much happier one for Marcos, who continues his ATP World Tour campaign in Johannesburg next week. Travelling with Olivier full-time, Marcos will also be working with one physical coach and two physiotherapists throughout the course of the year.
When asked what Olivier hoped to improve in Marcos game and what goals the pair had set for the season, the coach pointed out: “His forward game and his serve, but the most important thing is that he finds back his confidence. The goal is for him to be even more confident that he was before.
“Our objective is to come back into the Top 50 quite quickly, and then we don’t want to put any limits. For a player with the talent of Marcos you don’t have to fix limits.”
Marcos will be back on court again at the SA Tennis Open, which begins on Monday. Stay tuned for all the latest news on his progress in Johannesburg.
